Guild Profile

Only truly exceptional applicants will be considered. Our roster
is strong and only the best will be able to compete for a
spot.

Who are we?

Vanguard is a mature raiding guild that was founded in Vanilla and
has been raiding competitively since Molten Core, ranking at best
in the top of the entire world in the actual 3 main-raid days a
week bracket. The majority of our core members have been competing
at the highest level possible in this game.

We all love to raid and clear content as fast as possible, but
while being able to live productive lives outside of the game
without sacrificing too much.

Our values

We prioritize perfect play in all its forms. Both in terms of doing
damage, and avoiding taking it. We trust that all our raiders are
capable individuals, able to analyze their own mistakes and
ensuring that they are not repeated. The only thing we prioritize
as highly as perfect play is that our members are nice people. We
try to avoid drama and people talking down to each other.

We encourage a strong atmosphere of competition amongst our
players; it's important that all our players understand that we
will always pick the strongest players for the harder fights. That
means standing out is the best way to secure your spot for first
kills. It's important that players not only perfect their play on
progress, but also during farm content. Clearing farm content
faster means players with limited playtime, be it due to family,
work or school, has more leniency during actual progress.

Vanguard values having a small but active roster, and as a result,
we try to keep a very small bench. Just enough players to never
have to cancel a raid, but not so many that people spend the
majority of raids sitting out. Having to put loot on fewer people
has also resulted in us being one of the highest average item level
guilds in the world across multiple tiers.

Our expectations

A great amount of emphasis is placed on the understanding of
mechanics, so every raider can make conscious choices given
variables in fights, and focus tends to be on repeatability. Our 3
day a week schedule, which is never broken, unlike many of our
competititors, relies on everyones ability to make the right
choices at the right times.

Players who react to events will never be able to compete
for a spot against players who are focused on anticipating
events and pre-emptively solving a potential problem. We encourage
a high amount of personal responsibility in our raiders own
performances, and do not hold hands. Instead, we trust all our
members to do the right thing, at the right time, on their own
initiative. We encourage and lead our members to be the very best
in the world when it comes to execution, and have held many #1 in
the world ranks on Warcraftlogs for efficiency, including #1 All
Star.

We expect players to be well versed in theorycrafting, and have at
least a medium understanding of simcraft. Reciting a priority list
without elaborating on the how and why can be easily achieved by
anyone. Going into a detailed explanation, however, can not. As a
non-hybrid DPS you are expected to be well versed in all DPS
specializations and any viable talent combinations, and to
recognize and play whichever best suits the raidsetup on any given
encounter.

So why should you apply to Vanguard?

Our ideal candidate is someone currently playing at top tier, but
who wants more efficiency out of their time, or has less time to
play due to other obligations. If you are the very best player in
your guild, then you're a likely candidate. If you can look at your
raid team and name several players who are better all round players
than you, then most likely you are not. Many of us play many
classes, some of us all of them, and alt-raids are frequent outside
of the main raiding days. If you play lots of characters, you will
fit in well here.

If you are a passionate perfectionist who takes pride in doing
everything perfect. If you are a person who will always try to do
it better and more efficiently than your last performance, then we
are the guild for you. This guild is for those of you out there who
are used to being the best at everything, and here you will find
competition from our players that will challenge you to be even
better.
Here, you'll find a guild that rewards team play and flawless
execution. Not mindless greeding or meterpadding.

Raiding Hours:

Wednesday 18:45-23:00
Thursday 18:45-23:00
Sunday 18:45-23:00

Raiders are expected to attend these raids on a close to 100%
basis.

Alts

On tuesdays, during progress, we run our official alt-raid. People
are encouraged to join there, but are not required.

Once content is cleared the alt-raid is moved to main-raid days in
anticipation of split-farming heroic content the first week(s) of a
new tier. All members are required to have at least one alt that
they can play at maximum ability. For raid congruency, this (in
most cases) has to be the same class as your main, unless the alt
would provide stronger setup for the alt-raid. If you don't have a
2nd of your class at the time of application, don't worry. You'll
have plenty of time to get one up, and it will be geared by us when
you do.

Loot distribution

We use a loot council for fast and fair distribution of loot. The
better you play, the more likely it is for you to receive the best
items. We simply place loot where it will do the most good for
progress purposes, and during farm on those who are most reliable
and who performs the jobs required for the success of the raid
without being told to.

Boost runs

When progress is over, we start boosting people for gold. Unlike
most guilds, we split all the gold for the boosts evenly among the
raiders that are present for the raid at the end of each boost run.
In Siege of Orgrimmar, this resulted in each of the active raiders
having recieved more than half a million gold at the end. All
raiders are expected to always acquire any BoE's they can at the
start of an expansion, and this gold flow is intended to be used
towards that.

Final words by McOwn

If you've read all of this so far, then you're on the right track.
I'd like to make a few points about the application process clear.
While the questions are very in-depth, you need to think about what
it is we're looking for. A three-page guild history isn't
important, and we're not impressed by fancy guild names. You're
only a good as your last performance, and being in a top guild (in
many cases) just means you raid alot, not that you're good per
definition. A bunch of monkeys hurling their feces at a wall is
likely going to take down that wall sooner or later.

You can also waste hours writing basic class information; this is a
mistake. We assume that every bit of basic information is already
known. Write the things that make you better than the general
public. Include theorycrafting you have done on your own and
explain your reasons for choices you make. Timing windows you look
for. The simple things that make you better than your peers. Is the
general theorycrafting for your class wrong? Tell us why.

When you submit logs, know that they will be gone through from top
to bottom. Every offensive and defensive cooldown will be checked.
Every little thing that we know makes the difference between those
being carried and those carrying will be looked up. If you don't
have any good ones, then just do some LFR's or PUG's and keep these
things in mind. Show off, and point it out.

-McOwn

Make sure to visit our website below for more information! Further
questions not covered in this text can be directed towards McOwn
ingame.